Attachment is a major topic in the study of infant social development. One reason why it is given emphasis is because attachment represents a centerpiece for several different theoretical accounts of early social relationships. Which of the following statements best represents an assumption by attachment researchers, rather than an inference or an observation? Circle the letter of the best answer, and explain why it is the best answer and why each other answer is not as good.
An infant cries when separated from its mother because she is attached to her mother.
The most important relationship in an infant's life involves attachment to a primary caretaker.
Eighteen-month-old infants who are insecurely attached to their mothers exhibit more frustration behavior than securely attached infants.
Providing an infant with a comfortable, safe environment creates an attachment bond between an infant and caretaker.
Some babies do not look at their mothers or try to be near them.
ANSWER KEY
This is an inference. It is an explanation offered to account for the observation that infants often cry when they are separated from their mothers.
This is the assumption. One indication is Kagan's challenge that attachment is not as important as other researchers think it is. Another is that this point is taken for granted in the text, without justification or evidence. A third is that if researchers did not believe this, so much work would probably not have been invested in studying it.
This is a summary of data collected by Sroufe and others in their studies of the correlates of securely and insecurely attached infants. Simply stated, infants who were classified as insecurely attached were later seen to be more likely to fuss, cry, or be angry if they were challenged with a problem or difficult task.
This inference is the conclusion of a variety of studies of the causes of attachment in humans and monkeys. Researchers have tested hypotheses about the causes of attachment in experimental and correlational studies. They have concluded from this work that comfort and safety are primary determinants of attachment.
This is something seen in both systematic and casual observations of infants. It is one way that researchers and caregivers have seen babies behave in the presence of their mothers.